


with each passing day

by summerdayghost



Category: DCU, The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Character Study, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Pre-Canon, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-26
Updated: 2014-10-26
Packaged: 2018-02-22 18:48:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2518046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerdayghost/pseuds/summerdayghost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raising Bartholowmew Henry Allen was not going to be easy for Joe West.</p>
            </blockquote>





	with each passing day

**Author's Note:**

> Yay! I finally wrote something for this great series! I know there has only been three episodes, but still. It is never too early for fic. I hope you enjoy it!

Raising Bartholomew Henry Allen was not going to be easy for Joe West. He did not expect it to be a cake walk, but then again he didn't think it would be this hard either.

Joe's coworkers constantly whispered the dreaded words to him. Words such as, "Y'know what they say. Like father, like son." or, "The kid is broken. Nothing you can do." His worst fears brought right to his ears.

Before the incident Barry was bright and cheery child with a bright and cheery future ahead of him for the most part. He was smart as can be and had very few fears. A constant flow of words and laughter used to come from the boy's mouth. The only real problems Barry had ever had before were ones involving bullies.

Barry was now a darker and sad child with an uncertain future. He kept his intelligence, but a lot of new fears had materialized from seemly out of nowhere. The therapist's list of concerns about Barry's mental health only grew with each passing day. Barry rarely ever spoke any more and Joe hadn't heard Barry laugh since before the incident. It felt so foreign and just plain _wrong_ for Barry to be silenced like this. It made Joe want to scream sometimes.

Joe hated the idea that someone could break a child like this. It shouldn't be able to happen. Nothing bad should ever happen to a kid (but yet they still do).

Once Joe had a very high opinion of Henry Allen. He was a doctor that helped all the neighborhood children with their homework. Henry loved his wife Nora with all of his heart. Nora was a beautiful woman that baked pie and left it on the windowsill sometimes. She had a voice that would make the sirens jealous. Joe would've trusted Henry with his life. It was hard to accept that Nora was gone.

It was even harder accept that Henry wasn't the man Joe thought he was. The man Joe thought Henry was wouldn't murder his own wife in front of his own son.

Joe often wondered if Henry had just snapped. No. People almost never just snapped. Henry had probably been this way for a long time if not his entire life. Henry probably became a doctor because he liked cutting people up. Not because he wanted to save people. Henry was probably more fond of the bottle than he was for Nora or Barry. According to the therapist it was becoming more apparent with each session that Henry had been abusive towards Barry.

And oh god, Joe still hated himself for not seeing it sooner. Barry was constantly over at his house hanging out with Iris. Maybe that was because he was afraid to go to his real home. The one time Barry got a C- on a test he wouldn't stop crying for a whole forty-three minutes. Maybe that was because Henry had said something. The fear in Barry's eyes at the crime scene and the ridiculous story he spewed only pointed to one thing. Henry had probably told Barry that he was next if he didn't cover for him.

But there was still so much they didn't know. Until Barry realizes that daddy can't hurt him anymore and is honest with everyone they could never be sure exactly what Henry did to Barry. At this rate it seemed as if that day would never come. They could still guess though.

The speculations of his coworkers made Joe feel sicker and sicker with each passing day. On the day of Henry's trial it became too much and Joe threw up the moment he got home.

Joe used to think that it would be a great and amazing miracle if Barry turned out to be half the man his father was. Now he prayed that Barry would be nothing like his father. No one wanted Barry to be like his father. That would be a catastrophe if Barry grew up to be abusive to the ones he thought he loved. The very idea made Joe very nervous when Barry would look at Iris for just a bit too long.

On top of those problems Barry would run away every single chance he got. Iron Heights was going to have to up security soon if they wanted to keep out a single determined eleven year old. For some reason Barry still wanted Henry to be a part of his life. Despite all of the abuse Barry still loved his father unconditionally. It would be heartwarming if it wasn't so messed up.

Barry was broken, and maybe he couldn't ever be fixed. Maybe Joe's coworkers were right, but that sure as hell didn't mean Joe wasn't going to try his hardest.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading my terrible word vomit that I created in less than an hour because of procrastination for school work. I really appreciate it. The character dynamics on this show are fabulous and I just wanted to explore a bit. I hope you liked it!


End file.
